Christopher Chance
Christopher Chance is the primary protagonist of the 2010 television version of "Human Target" and is portrayed by actor Mark Valley. Character Summary Chance is a private contractor and security expert, contracted to protect individuals who seek his unique services when they are not able to turn to official authorities. He originally operated out of his private apartment/office in San Francisco, California, with his business partner, former police officer and longtime associate Laverne Winston and his Rottweiler, Carmine. Technically a two-man operation, but always there in the crunch, there was also Guerrero. Chance is a highly skilled marksman, expert in martial arts and hand-to-hand combat, and is fluent in a number of foreign languages. While he tends to rely on others for technical expertise, Chance has shown a high aptitude for physics and engineering, as well as a sharp facility to learn the specifics about various professions to quickly assimilate himself into a client's life. In Season Two the team expands with 'silent partner'/benefactor/boss Ilsa Pucci bankrolling Chance's redemption, and a street thief by the name of Ames, who provides the team with certain subtler options. History Chance's history is dark and muddled. When Chance was "young, angry, alone", he was taken into the employ of a man referred to as the Old Man, a surrogate father-figure who assembled a team of mercenaries and assassins for nefarious purposes. The Old Man trained Chance and the two formed a close bond with Chance becoming his right-hand man and coming to be referred to as "Junior". Junior was given the task of training new members of this team, including a master assassin named Baptiste. Katherine Walters Mission During his last mission for the Old Man, Junior was sent to kill a woman named Katherine Walters, an administrator for the Port of San Francisco who attempted to help a man named Bruner who had been shot. Bruner died in Katherine's arms, leaving two final words for her: "Leonor Fortier". Junior was informed that Katherine knew the man and that she was a loose end that needed to be tied up. Posing as Assistant United States District Attorney Conrad Hall, Junior made contact with the detective heading up the protection detail for Katherine, a man named Laverne Winston. Junior shared a drink with Winston to talk his way into meeting with Katherine at the San Francisco PD safe house. Winston would not give up the information but Junior was able to locate the safe house and gain entrance. Upon meeting Katherine - and her Rottweiler puppy Carmine - and finding out that, in fact, she had not known Bruner and had simply been with him in the last minutes of his life, Junior began to rethink his mission. Junior and the Old Man had not been seeing eye-to-eye for a few years and Junior found himself tiring of his lifestyle. This crisis of conscience and character caused Junior to tell Katherine he was hired to kill her but now wanted to help her escape. Getting out of the safehouse, Junior took Katherine to his own secluded location. Katherine feared for her life and Junior found himself comforting the woman. During the night, Guerrero, an associate of Junior's also in the employ of the Old Man, broke into the house. Junior confronted Guerrero, who admitted to being directed by the Old Man to kill Junior and the woman. Guerrero noted that Junior had been acting weird lately and, despite his known ruthless streak, attempted to talk Junior out of this course of action. The two fought with Junior gaining the upper hand and eventually training on gun on Guerrero. Katherine stopped him from pulling the trigger and Junior knocked out Guerrero. Junior and Katherine ran to the warehouse office/home of a bodyguard Junior had come up against earlier in his career and had lost to, a man named Christopher Chance. Junior asked for Chance's help and the bodyguard offered his advice but not his service. Junior told Chance that he researched him after their last encounter and could only find three other men named Christopher Chance who had all died some time ago. Chance explained that the name "Christopher Chance" was a moniker handed down from teacher to student and that each man who bore the name took it upon himself to help people. Junior noted that the name was verboten in the Old Man's organization because the bodyguard had also thwarted the Old Man in the past. Katherine fielded a call from Winston who was trying to find her. He told her that the Leonor was a ship docked at the Port of San Francisco and that Bruner was attempted to find something on the ship. Junior took the phone from Katherine and Winston attempted to convince him to work together. Junior stated that he could not work with the man while he still held a badge and ended the call. Christopher Chance convinced Junior that he needed to find what the men who hired the Old Man's organization to kill Katherine for and find to have the leverage to free her from the contract. Junior and Katherine went to the docks at the port. Junior left her on the power boat they came in on as a means to protect her while he went to the office to look for information on the Leonor. While in the office, Junior realized that the "Fortier" was actually the designation of a shipping container on the Leonor, container 40-A. As Junior found the container, Baptiste listened in on his radio conversation with Katherine. Junior discovered a small case as the only cargo in the container and within the case a journal with information that could change the political, commercial and financial landscape of the world. Leaving the container, Junior was confronted by Baptiste. Junior told Baptiste he would hand over the journal if the Old Man promised to leave Katherine alone. Baptiste declined and began chasing Junior through the maze of containers. Eventually ending up on top of the containers, Junior left the case in the open to draw Baptiste in. He attacked Baptiste and during the struggle, the case fell into the water and sunk. The case lost, Baptiste completed the other task of his mission and detonated a bomb on the power boat Katherine was on, killing her. As Baptiste attempted to kill Junior with a knife, he was shot by Christopher Chance. Baptiste, in turn, threw the knife at Chance, striking him dead in the chest. As Junior attended to Chance, the bodyguard asked him what he intended to do with his life to make up for Katherine's death. During this, Baptiste escaped. Junior ended up at the bodyguard's warehouse apartment/office and found Carmine there left alone. Using his detective skills to find the apartment, Winston paid Junior a visit to let him know that he had quit the police force. Wanting to do some good and sensing a kindred spirit, Winston told Junior that they were both at fault for what happened to Katherine and that they should work together to make sure it doesn't happen to the next person. At this point, Junior assumed the name Christopher Chance and took on the tradition of the men who had used the name before him. As the Old Man felt personally betrayed and hated that Junior took on the hated name of Chance, he has been pursuing Chance since he left the organization. Season 1 Personality Christopher Chance is a confident, experienced man who reacts calmly and efficiently in severe situations. He is a good strategist but excels when events change around him and he has to improvise. With square-jawed charm, Chance has an ease with flirting and attracting women but also quickly instilling trust in his clients, even if they are unsure his methods will work. Chance does not stand on ceremony and prefers the direct approach when addressing anyone, except when it involves the specifics of his cover identity on a given case. He is also known to have a wicked sense of humor and is often quick with a quip, joke or sarcastic comment on his immediate situation. Chance keeps company at his home/office with Carmine, where the two tend to share food and messy living habits. In the second episode of season two Chance shows just how far he is willing to go to redeem himself from his former life as an assassin. He ends up protecting the wife of a man he killed and when he tells her what he did, and she is about to shoot him, he tells her that no one would blame her, least of all him. Methods & Abilities To protect his clients, Chance, along with Winston and usually Guerrero, will create a cover identity that integrates him into the life of his client. By insinuating himself so close to his clients, he becomes a "human target" to draw the attention from the client and reveal the person or persons behind the threat. His weapon of choice is a Walther P99. Other Known other aliases/identities In the Comics Christopher Chance in the comics varies from his television counterpart in that Chance will actually assume the identity of his client using costuming and masks. By impersonating his clients, Chance puts himself in the line of fire to reveal and eliminate the threats to his clients' safety. The Human Target was created by Len Wein and Carmine Infantino and first appeared in Action Comics #419 in December 1972. Trivia It should be noted that Christopher Chance is not his real name but the name of his mentor during his first protection mission. Christopher Chance is something akin to a title meaning: "The guy you go to when no one else will help." Category:Human Target characters Category:TV show characters Category:Antihero Category:Heroes Category:Characters with military experience Category:Male characters Category:Characters Category:Characters played by Mark Valley Category:Spies Category:Assassins